Long story short, I believe that a strong case can be made that the decline in world transportation fuels will mark a major turning point in modern economies, because of the importance of such fuels to essential human activities.

Using a comprehensive database of giant oil field production, the average decline rates of the world’s giant oil fields are estimated... The evolution of decline rates over past decades includes the impact of new technologies and production techniques and clearly shows that the average decline rate for individual giant fields is increasing with time. These factors have significant implications …

We’ve now in a period of major human disorientation, but geology does not become disoriented on the human timescale. The impending peak oil problem may now be generally absent from the media and the public consciousness, but it has not gone away. We would do well to continue meaningful studies of peak oil production and mitigation during this period of peak oil quiet.

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